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Red Sox Opening Day: Predicting Boston’s 2021 starting rotation

By Brendan Mizgala

FT. MYERS, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox high fives Nathan Eovaldi #17 and Darwinzon Hernandez #63 during a team workout on February 20, 2020 at jetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
FT. MYERS, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Chris Sale #41 of the Boston Red Sox high fives Nathan Eovaldi #17 and Darwinzon Hernandez #63 during a team workout on February 20, 2020 at jetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /
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Red Sox starter Garrett Richards
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – MARCH 12: Garrett Richards #43 of the Boston Red Sox delivers a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in a spring training game at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on March 12, 2021 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Red Sox RHP: Garrett Richards

A new face for the Red Sox this season, Garrett Richards was a trademark Chaim Bloom “low-risk/high-reward,” signing. Richards hasn’t pitched a full season since 2015 but has shown that he still has something in the tank that makes him a worthwhile signing. As the probable fifth man in the rotation, his job is to swing things back over to Eovaldi and eventually E-Rod. Not to mention, Richards has what may be the best mustache in the game today, surely it’ll get plenty of love from Dennis Eckersley.

I don’t have massive hopes for Richards but I do think that he can be a dark horse underdog story for the Red Sox. His spring wasn’t the greatest, 2-1/5.93/13.2/1.610, and the righty admits that he wasn’t as hot in Fort Myers. It all comes down to mechanics for Richards and he knows it, going as far as pointing it out and making it his focus. I think the more time he spends with Dave Bush the better his results will be. Having a regular spot in the starting rotation won’t hurt his efforts either.

Injuries have played a massive role in Richards’ career in the recent past but now that he’s fully healthy, it’s time to get back to what he once was. His last full season, 2015, saw him go 15-12 with a 3.65 ERA and toss 207.1 innings. One thing that we need to also look at is that while his time on the mound may have decreased over the years he’s seen career bests in K/9 in 2018 (10.3) and 2019 (11.4).

He may not go deep into games this year but he is more than capable of being effective in those outings. Whether he goes four innings or six, he has the ability to get it done.

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